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Monthly Archives: August 2015
Hurricane season thoughts
As we remember Hurricane Katrina, sigh in relief at Tropical Storm Erika, which took lives in the Caribbean before dissipating south of Florida, worry about Hurricane Fred as it threatens Cape Verde in the Atlantic, and ponder the three hurricanes … Continue reading
The Salon des Refuses
The topic has come up of a “Salon des refusés” for the classical entries that did not make it into the first two rounds of the competition for a national memorial to World War I. More than 350 entries were … Continue reading
Catesby Leigh’s WWI faves
The Washington critic Catesby Leigh has an excellent write-up of the World War I memorial designs in the National Review, “National World War I Memorial: The Judges Got It Wrong.” He mentions two proposals that were entered but for various … Continue reading
Behead the Islamic State
It may have been the beheading of Khalid al-Asaad, known as Mr. Palmyra, a retired professor and protector of antiquities at Palmyra, that pushed me over the edge a few days ago, and I’ve been mulling the idea with further … Continue reading
The R.I. Holocaust Memorial
Yesterday saw the dedication of the Rhode Island Holocaust Memorial, remembering the more than six million Jews murdered by Hitler and the Nazis, plus the many who escaped, including those who moved to and made a new life in Rhode … Continue reading
Corbu, Paris and Pinceau
Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Le Corbusier, founding villain of modern architecture and to this day still its leading hero. He died in a swimming accident off the Mediterranean coast where he had vandalized the seaside … Continue reading
Why we fall back on parks
My post yesterday after the debate in Providence between proponents of a park or a ballpark along the Providence River, even though the waterfront is “festooned” with parks, elicited this eye-opening response from James Howard Kunstler, the celebrated critic of … Continue reading
River “festooned with parks”
I attended tonight’s panel discussion, sponsored by Leadership R.I., on the Providence waterfront – park vs. ballpark – and was startled to hear myself quoted in the first question from the moderator. He cited the “blog by David Brussat, who … Continue reading
Latest projects in Providence
Above are two maps of Providence before and after the relocation of Route 195, opening up about 40 acres for development between downtown and the Jewelry District. Toward the top of the map you can see the Providence River curve … Continue reading
Visiting beautiful Guatemala
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza recently visited Guatemala at the invitation of the Central American nation’s commerce secretary. Elorza – whose family hails from Guatemala – hopes to have persuaded the national airline to schedule regular flights to T.F. Green State … Continue reading
